Mexican Government Faces Legal Action over Its Handling of Art Collection Rich in Kahlos
A coalition called Defense of the Gelman Collection began legal proceedings against Banco Santander and Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL) over the handling of the 300-work Gelman Collection, which includes major works by Frida Kahlo and other Mexican artists. The group said in a Wednesday release that it filed a letter to a Mexico City judge calling the bank’s and INBAL’s actions “unconstitutional,” describing the case as the first of several planned lawsuits. Controversy intensified after part of the collection appeared in Banco Santander’s holdings in Spain in January, about 18 months after the Mexican government said it did not know the collection’s whereabouts, and after the bank transported the works to Spain—an action critics argue violates Mexican cultural heritage laws. Mexico has said the collection will return in 2028, and the coalition highlighted the collection’s significance by noting that Mexico owns seven Kahlo works while the Gelman Collection contains 10.
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This story was covered in Seized Treasures, Culture Cash, and Political Pressure